DETROIT AREA DRUG RING CIRCLED THE GLOBE

An international marijuana ring with direct Macomb County ties is
accused of importing 40 tons of the illegal drug from Mexico to the
Detroit area over the past 13 years. The alleged ring's 20 members --
including four from Macomb, three from the Grosse Pointes or Harper
Woods, and two from Oakland County -- were indicted by a federal grand
jury for operating the ring that obtained 80,000 pounds of marijuana
that was sold in southeastern Michigan, law enforcement officials
revealed Monday.

"This is easily one of the largest conspiracies to distribute
marijuana in the history of this district (eastern district of the
U.S. District Court)," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said in a news
conference.

The indicted Macomb County residents are Nasser Wadih Kaddo Jr., 36,
of Chesterfield Township; Jason Raper, 28, of Harrison Township;
Michael Abraham, 51, of Sterling Heights; and James Younan, 28, of St.
Clair Shores.

The County of Macomb Enforcement Team played a major role in the
investigation, which began many years ago and has been passed along by
agents who joined and left the drug unit, said Macomb County Sheriff
Mark Hackel.

"A lot of the tips and leads in the case were through COMET," Hackel
said. "This is some big stuff. The officers in COMET are really
cranked up about this."

Hackel said the indictments should cut the supply of the drug in
Macomb and throughout the metropolitan area.

"This definitely is going to have a major impact on marijuana sales in
the Detroit area and probably throughout the state," added Hackel, who
also spoke at the news conference.

Officials would not speculate on the street value of the drugs, but
acknowledged it's millions and millions of dollars. Based on one
calculation, the drugs would have a value of between $10 million and
$20 million upon arrival in the Detroit area before being divided up
to sell in smaller quantities.

Other Detroit-area residents who were indicted include, George David
Thomas, 43, of Birmingham; David Capoferi, 37, of Royal Oak; John
Timothy Brosnan, 46, of Grosse Pointe Park; Marjorie Vicari, 64, of
Harper Woods; Abraham Harrouk, 36, of Grosse Pointe Woods; and James
Dennett, 45, of Livonia.

Ten others from Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey and Nevada
also were indicted.

Five of the defendants -- Kaddo, Capoferi, Abraham, Younan and Dennett
- -- were arraigned Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Detroit
and released in lieu of $10,000 bonds. They face potential penalties
of life in prison and a $4 million fine. All five pleaded not guilty
or had a not-guilty plea entered for them.

Kaddo was given tighter bond restrictions. Besides not being able to
travel out of the district or consume alcohol or drugs, like the other
four, Kaddo was ordered to be placed on an electronic tether and have
a curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.

All five retained attorneys. Three of the defense attorneys declined
to comment Monday.

Kaddo lives in the area of 24 Mile and Baker roads in Chesterfield,
near Salt River Golf Course and the border of New Baltimore. Homes in
his neighborhood range in price from $300,000 to $600,000, according
to a resident.

Kaddo's neighbor, James Earle, said Monday he was surprised to learn
of the indictment.

"I've lived next to him for many years and haven't seen any suspicious
activity," Earle said. "He's kind of quiet."

Earle said he believes Kaddo, who has a wife and two children, owns a
sausage company in Detroit.

Seven of the defendants -- including Thomas and Kaddo -- are accused
of trying to bribe and "ensure the silence of" Brosnan of Grosse
Pointe Park, William Mitchell of California and Jennifer Susan Myers
of San Diego.

Brosnan was one of the first people arrested last year. The seven
indicted for bribery allegedly met to discuss the alleged payoffs, and
paid Brosnan's attorney fees and other money since his arrest.

Most recently, Jan. 29, Carmen Leah Rohatensky of Arizona paid $35,000
that was provided by Harry Trubonis of Newark, N.J., to Myers to
"secure" her "silence," the indictment says.

Law enforcement officials said the investigation took a long time
because of its complexity. It required a great deal of cooperation and
interaction among the many agencies: the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, MSP, COMET, under the auspices of the Organized Crime
Drug Enforcement Task Force Program.

Hackel said he believes more arrests will follow.

"I don't think this is the last of it," he said.

The "leaders/organizers" of the ring were two defendants from Arizona,
Allen Ozdemir and Dale Sokolov, and Trubonis of Newark, according to
the indictment. They arranged to obtain the drugs from Mexico.

The group then arranged ways to transport large sums of marijuana in
vehicles to the Detroit area, where the drugs were sold, the
indictment says.

The ring, which started in 1991, initially used passenger cars to
transport 200 pounds to 400 pounds of marijuana. The ring progressed
to heavy-duty pickup trucks equipped with enclosed trailers to
transport 1 ton to 1.5 tons. Most recently, the ring used commercial
moving vans to transport loads of one ton to two tons.

A break in the case occurred about two years ago when defendant Thomas
Nix, 25, of St. Peter Beach, Fla., was stopped in Iowa driving a
vehicle registered to Thomas of Birmingham that contained $244,000 in
cash, the indictment says. Nix was en route to Las Vegas, where he was
to meet up with individuals under Trubonis' orders and pay for a
marijuana shipment.

Kaddo and Thomas, who at least once transported drugs, were labeled as
"major purchasers," according to the indictment. Drugs were dropped
off at Brosnan's home and business, Brooks Builders, "for and on
behalf of" Thomas and Kaddo.

One shipment of 1,700 kilograms arrived at Brosnan's home last
March.

Capoferi of Royal Oak arranged locations, such as a property near
Harper and Adieux avenues in Detroit, for the drugs to be dropped off
and unloaded.

Capoferi sold drugs bought by Thomas and Brosnan, the indictment
says.

Abraham served as a "money manager" for Thomas, maintaining "custody
of large sums of money derived from narcotic sales." Abraham helped
coordinate the March '03 delivery to Brosnan's home.

Younan worked as a "facilitator" for Kaddo, the indictment says. He
traveled to Tucson, Ariz., at least twice to plan large shipments in a
moving van.

Vicari, along with Nix of Florida, served as a "money courier" for
Thomas. During the ring's early years, she drove drugs from Arizona to
southeast Michigan, the indictment says.

Harrouk of Grosse Pointe Woods assisted Kaddo in maintaining records,
and worked with Younan and Dennett in planning transportation, the
indictment says.

Dennett, who at his arraignment wore a T-shirt that said, "DMV Moving
Systems" of Canton, worked at a moving company as a dispatcher and
arranged for the loading of moving vans at a Tucson storage facility
for shipment to the Detroit area, according to the indictment.

Federal officials said they will seek seizure of profits and
forfeiture of goods that were purchased with drug-sale funds.

Property owned by three Detroit-area defendants targeted in the
indictment:

. 2002 GMC Yukon registered in Thomas' name.

. buildings, fixtures and improvements at a Mack Avenue property owned
by Thomas.

. two adjacent properties on Harper in Detroit owned by
Capoferi.

. a property on Moran Road in Detroit owned by Kaddo.

In all, as of Monday, 17 of the 20 defendants had been arrested.
Remaining at-large Monday afternoon were Raper of Harrison, Vicari of
Harper Woods and Thomas of Birmingham.

The five defendants arraigned Monday were apprehended by police that
morning.